Kirk Ferentz – Syndication Server

If Big Ten coaches have a group chat, who’s the most annoying in it? We have theories.

Before The Snap was joined by The Solid Verbal’s Dan Rubenstein and Ty Hildenbrandt to assign stereotypical texting behaviors to Big Ten coaches.

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Earlier in the 2024-25 college football season, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule revealed that he and the other Big Ten football coaches talk perhaps a little more than people previously thought.

“We have a Big Ten coaches group chat to discuss issues, and [Illinois head coach Bret Bielema] heads up a lot of that,” Rhule said in September ahead of the Cornhuskers’ game against Illinois.

College Football Playoff: 5 things that would make the 12-team CFP a success in its first season

Well, that prompted us here at For The Win’s Before The Snap to wonder what that group chat is like and which Big Ten football coaches fit various stereotypes when texting. But we couldn’t do it alone, so we asked The Solid Verbal podcast’s Dan Rubenstein and Ty Hildenbrandt to weigh in as well.

Which Big Ten football coach is complaining about the refs each week?
Ohio State’s Ryan Day, definitely.

Which Big Ten football coach hypes up their past success a little too much?
USC’s Lincoln Riley or Indiana’s Curt Cignetti.

Which Big Ten football coach sends the group chat motivational messages?
Oregon’s Dan Lanning.

Which Big Ten football coach never responds or only “likes” messages?
Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz.

Which Big Ten football coach is sending only TikTok videos?
Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck.

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Trio of Hawkeyes expected to be unavailable vs. Nebraska

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz announced a trio of players that are expected to be out and unavailable on Friday versus Nebraska.

Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz announced a trio of Hawkeyes aren’t expected to be available on Friday for Iowa’s regular-season finale against Nebraska.

Iowa freshman wide receiver Reece Vander Zee, redshirt junior offensive tackle Gennings Dunker and graduate cornerback Jermari Harris are sidelined.

“Definitely out will be Reece Vander Zee. Still a ways away. Hopefully we’ll get him back for the bowl game. Starting to turn the corner a little bit there. Jermari Harris won’t be able to go. Dunker, pretty sure that he won’t be able to go either. He’s improving, but I don’t think he’s going to make it.

“Everybody else is moving forward. I think we have a chance to have everybody else ready for game time. We’ll see how that goes,” Ferentz said on Tuesday.

Vander Zee has 14 catches for 176 yards with three touchdowns on the season, but he hasn’t played since exiting Iowa’s 40-14 win over Northwestern on Oct. 26. The 6-foot-4, 207 pound receiver has played in and started eight games this season.

Dunker has been a key cog in Iowa’s rushing attack as it morphed into one of the nation’s finest. The Hawkeyes rank 13th nationally in rushing offense, averaging 213.5 yards per game on the ground.

As a result of that unit’s hard work, junior running back Kaleb Johnson set a single-season school record with 21 rushing touchdowns and was named a Doak Walker Award finalist.

Dunker was listed as out ahead of Iowa’s 29-13 win over Maryland last week, though. Prior to the Hawkeyes’ win over the Terps, Dunker had started all 10 games at right tackle.

Lastly, Harris is once again expected to be out. Initial reports on Friday of last week indicated Harris was opting out of the remainder of the season to focus on the 2025 NFL draft, but Iowa clarified his status later that day.

“(Jermari Harris) will not play in Saturday’s game due to a medical issue. We hope all our student-athletes can play next week in our regular-season finale at Kinnick Stadium, however, a player’s health and well-being are always our top priority,” University of Iowa associate athletics director for strategic communications Matt Weitzel said in a statement.

The health of Iowa’s quarterbacks has been another key topic of discussion. Ferentz said on Tuesday that junior quarterback Brendan Sullivan and graduate quarterback Cade McNamara were both back practicing, but redshirt sophomore Jackson Stratton remains the Hawkeyes’ starting quarterback versus the Huskers.

Kickoff on Friday, Nov. 29, against Nebraska is 6:30 p.m. CT with the game televised on NBC from Kinnick Stadium.

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Kirk Ferentz credits Tim Lester for revamping Iowa’s offensive line, ground game

Kirk Ferentz credits Tim Lester on Iowa’s offensive renaissance.

The strength of the Iowa Hawkeyes this season has been their ground game. In their six victories, Iowa has leaned on its rushing attack and gotten behind their offensive line on the way to the end zone.

The success that the group and the run game have seen this year has been a large jump from previous seasons. A lot of that credit goes to first-year offensive coordinator Tim Lester.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz wasn’t shy about giving Lester his deserved credit in his Tuesday press conference.

“Yeah, a couple things. Give Tim credit, and he spoke to that last week. I read his comments. He has a really good system. That’s obviously why we hired him, to try to do some research here, and felt good about that.

“But I think the biggest picture, and Tim made this very clear last Wednesday, and I’d reaffirm this, and I said this back last August, I think a couple things. First of all, I think the offensive line is in a better place than it’s been the last couple years. Nobody’s issues, it’s just attrition, injuries. It’s been tough. So we’re finally able to maybe play at a level where the proficiency is a little bit more like what we hope,” Ferentz said.

That Iowa offensive line has helped pave the way for a Doak Walker Award semifinalist in junior running back Kaleb Johnson. Ferentz made sure to give Johnson his credit in Iowa’s successes as well, though.

“Then, you’ve got a back who’s in his third year instead of being a first-year guy who’s kind of hit or miss. He’s always been a great kid. He’s an outstanding young man.

“But the lack of consistency, inexperience, immaturity, et cetera, and that’s the benefit of being older. So, our line has benefitted from that, and Kaleb is benefiting from that, and the rest of the room is doing a good job, too, but he’s the one carrying the heaviest load,” Ferentz said.

Iowa’s offensive line and ground game has already rumbled to 2,081 rushing yards, 27 rushing touchdowns and a 5.5 yards per carry average.

The group is averaging 208.1 rushing yards per game and has been the catalyst to Johnson putting up a historic season that will be etched into Iowa Hawkeyes’ history.

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Kirk Ferentz discusses emotions of facing son, Brian, as opponent for first time

Kirk Ferentz discussed what the emotions will be like in facing his son, Brian, for the first time in their coaching careers.

Even decades into a coaching career, there are still firsts. One of those happens for Iowa this week when it travels east to take on the Maryland Terrapins (4-6, 1-6 Big Ten).

For longtime Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz, this will be the first time he squares off against his son, Brian, on an opposing sideline.

On Tuesday during his weekly press conference, Ferentz discussed what those emotions will feel like.

“Exactly. It’s the first time for a lot of things. That’s life. I haven’t given it a lot of thought quite, frankly. Obviously I knew it was coming.

“But the bottom line is this, to your point, it’s the best I can come up with. It’s weird coming back here, whether it be Barry Alvarez the first year or Bill Snyder Year 2, Dan McCarney, Bob Stoops. Four guys that I worked with, and Bob played for us on top of it. Tremendous respect for all those guys.

“It’s a weird dynamic, but the bottom line is this: The reality is when you get to game day, that’s what’s silly about coaches exchanges, greetings and all that. I fully know what the other coach wants to do, just like he knows what I want to do, and how we hope the day goes.

“It’s probably not a great time for a family reunion or just even seeing old friends. Everybody is cordial, but the bottom line is we’ve all got business to take care of on Saturday. We’ll see where it all goes.

“But I think his experience has been good, what I know about it, and as a parent I’m glad he’s with good people, and Mike is a guy I’ve got a lot of respect for,” Ferentz said stoically of the situation.

Kirk Ferentz did not let on too much emotion impacting him or getting in the way of this matchup as he knows Iowa has a job to do and that job is to win the game.

Brian Ferentz joined Maryland this offseason after departing the Iowa staff last winter following a seven-year stint as the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator

Brian Ferentz is a senior offensive assistant for Maryland.

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Kirk Ferentz shares injury update following Iowa loss at UCLA

Iowa updated its injury outlook following UCLA.

The Iowa Hawkeyes had six players sidelined ahead of their Friday night battle at UCLA.

Those unavailable Hawkeyes proved to be pivotal missing pieces during Iowa’s 20-17 loss at UCLA.

Without graduate quarterback Cade McNamara and redshirt freshman signal-caller Marco Lainez, Iowa had to turn to redshirt sophomore quarterback Jackson Stratton after junior quarterback Brendan Sullivan exited with an ankle injury.

After the loss, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz updated Sullivan’s injury status.

“Regarding Brendan, he’s got an ankle sprain, so hopefully we’ll know more next week, but hopefully not too bad,” Ferentz said.

Stratton converted a pair of key third downs with big throws to junior wide receiver Jacob Gill on his first series under center. The Colorado State transfer guided a 13-play, 61-yard touchdown drive on that first series.

But, he and the Hawkeyes went three-and-out on their next offensive possession.

Meanwhile, outside of Gill, the Hawkeyes’ offense could have used freshman wide receiver Reece Vander Zee and junior tight end Addison Ostrenga to add two more reliable pass catchers into the mix.

Ferentz was asked for and shared an injury update on McNamara, Vander Zee and Ostrenga following the loss to the Bruins.

“We think Addison’s got a chance, a realistic chance… it wouldn’t be next week, but the week after. Cade was able to do some exertion at the end of the week which is encouraging, so hopefully we’ll see what that looks like this week. Reece is a little bit more gray area, but, I mean, hopefully it’s improving, but we’ll see.

“If we were playing next Saturday, Addison couldn’t go, but I think it’s realistic maybe the week after,” Ferentz said.

Defensively, Iowa also played a large portion of the game without one of its defensive rocks. Fifth-year linebacker Jay Higgins was sidelined midway through.

“Yeah, he’s got a tissue issue, so we’ll know more next week. Same way. He tried to go, he went back in and then just watching him come off the field after that possession, I couldn’t imagine him covering on a pass. Hopefully it’s not too bad and hopefully we’ll get him back next ball game,” Ferentz said.

According to Pro Football Focus, Higgins saw just 35 snaps against UCLA.

Iowa (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) has a bye week upcoming and then will return to action on Nov. 23 at Maryland.

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Kirk Ferentz gives thought on making trip to Rose Bowl

Kirk Ferentz has thoughts on the trip.

With the new-look Big Ten Conference, it provides other teams a chance to make a regular trip to Los Angeles and the Rose Bowl. In Week 11, the Iowa Hawkeyes face the UCLA Bruins in a Friday night showdown in Los Angeles.

Ahead of the game, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz spoke about what it means to play at a historic venue such as the Rose Bowl, per Riley Donald of Hawkeyes Wire.

“Not really. I mean, the venue will be cool. It’s kind of like Wrigley; I’ll explain it to you this way. My wife would be the first one to tell you because she still laughs, I got drenched at the Super Bowl when the Bears and Indy played. We got home at 3:00 because we didn’t have a ride lined up coming out and her response was, ‘Oh, you mean nobody drove you to the game? Nobody gave you a coat when it rained?’ All that kind of stuff. But that’s really kind of our life, and it’s one of the most enjoyable things I’ve done in my life is take my daughters on college visits because I get to see the college, not just the stadium.”

Still, Ferentz admits they are going just to play a game and he doesn’t sound worried about much else.

“We’re going to play a game, a tough game against a tough opponent, and we all know we’ve got our work cut out, and this is going to be a tough challenge for us…Hopefully, somebody can take some pictures and we’ll look at those during the bye week.”

Kirk Ferentz comments on Iowa’s big bounce back since Michigan State loss

Iowa has bounced back in a big way since its loss at Michigan State.

During his Tuesday media availability, Iowa football head coach Kirk Ferentz spoke on the many lessons the team has learned since their Week 8 32-20 loss vs. Michigan State from East Lansing, Michigan.

Ferentz mentioned that losses like the one against the Spartans are all about learning and becoming a better team as a whole through exploited flaws.

“Yeah, it’s all about learning, and every season — every moment teaches you something typically,” Ferentz said. “The bottom line is the week wasn’t good enough prior to Michigan State in retrospect, and certainly what we did in that game — you’re not going to win a lot of Big Ten games playing the way we played. It is what it is. We own that film. Your film is your resume.”

For the Hawkeyes, the 39 missed tackles were a major factor in the Spartans’ ability to accrue 468 yards of offense against a typically sound Iowa defense.

Ferentz continued by stating the loss to Michigan State allowed the team to ‘look at the mirror’ and praised his group for responding positively the following week.

“The question is was that one of those nights, was that one of those learning experiences, or is it going to be a tendency or a trend. Everybody has got a choice there,” Ferentz said.

“I give our guys credit. They got back on their feet. I think we were better focused and came up with a win the next week and then came back to work following that and had the right focus and moved forward.”

Ferentz finished by explaining that every season is different and team success is ultimately determined by how players can persevere through the ups and downs of a season.

“But the season is full of twists and turns,” Ferentz added. “I say it every year; you just never know what they’re going to be or when they’re going to happen. It’s really a matter of how can you navigate through the ups and the downs. The downs are hard, but it’s part of what we do, so you’ve got to be able to deal with it.”

Iowa (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) will look to maintain its momentum on Friday when the team travels to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, to take on UCLA (3-5, 2-4 Big Ten). Game time is set for 8:05 p.m. CT and will air on Fox.

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Iowa football provides injury update before Week 11 vs. UCLA

Kirk Ferentz updated Iowa’s injury situation ahead of UCLA.

During his weekly media availability, Iowa football head coach Kirk Ferentz provided updates on injuries that have been ailing a few of the Hawkeyes lately.

Starting with tight end Luke Lachey, Ferentz told the media that Lachey has a chance to play at UCLA even though the senior has been a bit limited recently.

“Luke, I think, has a chance. He’s a little bit limited right now, but practicing, and we’ll see how it goes this week. I think he’s close,” Ferentz said.

“But we have to plan to go without him, and the guys have stepped in working in his spot have done a nice job, so we’ll see what the week looks like on that front.”

Ferentz also updated graduate quarterback Cade McNamara’s status, who has been inactive while recovering from a concussion sustained during Iowa’s 40-14 victory over Northwestern in Week 9.

He informed the media that McNamara would not be able to play for a second consecutive week but added that Iowa’s Week 12 bye week could allow the quarterback time to re-engage with football activities.

“Cade will not make the game. He will not be ready to go,” Ferentz said. “Hopefully, during the bye week, we can get him back and running a little bit. Otherwise, pretty much things are status quo.”

The Hawkeyes (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) will travel West to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., where they will take on the UCLA Bruins (3-5, 2-4 Big Ten) on Nov. 8. Game time is set for 8:05 p.m. CT and will air on Fox.

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Wisconsin vs. Iowa injury report: Hawkeyes’ top tight end uncertain for Saturday’s game

Wisconsin vs Iowa injury report

The Wisconsin Badgers (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) and Iowa Hawkeyes (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) are now just over one hour from the kickoff of their primetime Week 10 matchup.

The contest is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET, 6:30 p.m. CT at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa has released its final injury status report with those minutes continuing to count down before kickoff.

The Hawkeyes will be without two quarterbacks, previous starter Cade McNamara and depth option Marco Lainez, while starting tight end Luke Lachey is considered to be ‘questionable.’ Brendan Sullivan will draw the start at quarterback and if Lachey is unable to go, that’d make his job that much harder.

The Badgers will once again be without WR Tyrell Henry, who’s operated as one of their return specialists in 2024, so S Hunter Wohler will likely return punts again in Week 10. Additionally, starting WR Bryson Green is listed as ‘questionable’ for the second week in a row as he looks to return to the field for the first time since Oct. 5 versus Purdue.

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Here is the full injury report entering Saturday’s Week 10 game between Wisconsin and Iowa:

Iowa injury report

Questionable: TE Luke Lachey
Out: John Nestor, Marco Lainez, Cade McNamara, Reece Vander Zee, Addison Ostrenga

Wisconsin injury report

Questionable: WR Bryson Green, LB Jaheim Thomas, LB Tackett Curtis, TE J.T. Seagraves
Out: Chez Mellusi, Tyler Van Dyke, Joseph Griffin, Kamo’i Latu, Tyrell Henry, Cole LaCrue, Tamer Dalloul, Evan Brown, Leyton Nelson, Rob Booker, James Thompson Jr.

Iowa QB Cade McNamara injury update

McNamara was benched in the second half of the team’s 40-14 win over Northwestern in Week 9 and he’ll now be forced to miss Week 10 completely as a result of an undisclosed injury. Brendan Sullivan will draw his first start of the season after transferring to Iowa ahead of the 2024 campaign.

Iowa TE Luke Lachey injury update

Lachey was a late add to the injury report for the Hawkeyes and it’s unclear what is ailing him. The tight end is a big part of Iowa’s success in both the passing and running games on offense and his absence would be a big blow for Kirk Ferentz and his squad.

Iowa details timing of Cade McNamara concussion diagnosis

Iowa detailed the timing and diagnosis of Cade McNamara’s concussion.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz revealed on Tuesday that Hawkeye graduate quarterback Cade McNamara suffered a concussion during Iowa’s 40-14 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats.

McNamara was likely injured on Iowa’s second drive of the game when he took a hard hit on a third-and-20 play with 1:59 left in the first quarter from the Iowa 36-yard line. The hit resulted in a roughing-the-passer penalty, which extended the drive.

That Hawkeye drive ended in an eventual Iowa punt. On Iowa’s ensuing series, McNamara threw an 85-yard pick six to Northwestern defensive back Theran Johnson.

McNamara was replaced on the Hawkeyes’ fourth drive by junior quarterback Brendan Sullivan.

Asked why he felt McNamara was able to stay in the game after the early hit, Ferentz shared that the quarterback showed no concussion-like symptoms initially. According to Ferentz, Iowa was already planning on rotating its quarterbacks and inserting Sullivan for several series.

“I mean, yeah, he wasn’t feeling great, but it wasn’t like he was incoherent by any stretch. But as I said Saturday, we had already planned a rotation going into the game, and it just so happens that was the time coincidentally, if you will.

“We were going to do that regardless unless the ball was like on the one-inch line and we had 99-plus to go. Not fair to throw a guy in there cold doing that,” Ferentz said.

However, team doctors eventually diagnosed McNamara with a concussion at halftime.

“It wasn’t like any symptoms really presented themselves other than he was sore and shook up certainly,” Ferentz added. “Then, at halftime, they diagnosed it and held him out. I’m not sure when they diagnosed the concussion actually, but he just wasn’t fit to play at halftime.”

Due to McNamara’s concussion, he is not listed on the depth chart for Saturday’s game versus Wisconsin.

Junior transfer Brendan Sullivan will assume the starting role under center against the Badgers.

The Hawkeyes’ clash with the Badgers from Kinnick Stadium is set for a 6:30 p.m. CT start and will air on both NBC and Peacock.

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions.

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